Perth doctors develop new diabetes pump

Type 1 diabetic Lachlan Robertson talks to Professor Tim Jones about the new sensor which switches off his insulin pump when his blood sugar drops.

Doctors in Perth say they have found a way to prevent life-threatening seizures and comas in type 1 diabetes sufferers.

Professor Tim Jones from Princess Margaret Hospital says they have trialled an artificial "pancreas-like" pump that delivers and suspends insulin in diabetes patients.

People with diabetes can go into a potentially fatal coma if their blood-sugar levels get dangerously low.

The new pump can identify when that is occurring and suspend the supply of insulin.

Professor Tim Jones from the Endocrinology Department at Perth's Princess Margaret Hospital monitored 95 children with type 1 diabetes who were at high risk of hypoglycaemia.

He said episodes of hypoglycaemia could be avoided with the use of the new pump.

Professor Jones said a patient's ability to recognise they were having a hypoglycaemic attack was impaired.

"Some patients will notice symptoms like a pounding heart and shakiness as their blood glucose drops," he said.

"Other people don't experience any warning signs at all, meaning the reliance on this technology is even greater."

The study found the pump helped patients overnight, when many attacks occur while people are asleep and unable to recognise the symptoms.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation partially funded the research.

The Foundation's chief executive, Mike Wilson, said the development was a significant step in treating Australians with the disease.

"While we are seeking to find a cure for type 1 diabetes we are also striving to treat and prevent life-threatening complications that people with this chronic disease face," he said.

"The results of this study bring us much closer to the development of a fully automated artificial pancreas, which may one day prove to be the best way to avoid or reduce seizures, comas and potential death."

The research, due to be unveiled in Perth today, has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.